Cabin Fever

d into the judge's office. There is an anger which carries a person to the extreme of self-sacrifice, in the subconscious hope of exciting pity for one so hardly used.

st; certainly he had not expected it to be their last. Why, he asked the high heavens, had she told him to bring home a roll of cotton,

ddenly from carefree girlhood to the ills and irks of wifehood and motherhood. He should have known that she had been for two months wholly dedicated to the small physical wants of the

thed him paradoxically to tell himself that he was "cleaned"; that Marie had ruined him absolutely, and that he was just ten dollars and a decent suit or two of clothes better off than a tramp. He was temp

yes sullen, though they carried tiny lines at the corners to show how they used to twinkle. He took the ten-dollar bank note from his pocket, straightened out the wrinkles and looked at it disdainfully. As plainly as though he spoke, his face told what he was thinking about it: t

't make the proposition I was going to make. Thought I could talk

put the ten doll

idea's

't feel like tackling it myself. They tell me in here that you are

ou right. I'

since Bud did not explain, he w

u last summer. I know you can drive, and it doesn't matte

d to respond to the flatt

for me? There'll be night dr

know about my driving, what'

t another wa

e knew every car in there. "What is there in it for me?" he added perfunctorily, because he

you." He stepped out of the doorway, and Bud gloomily followed him. "Little trouble with my wife," the man explained apologetically. "Having me

kept his mouth shut upon his

go there to-night, get the car, and have it down at the Broadway Wharf to meet the 11:30 boat-the one the theater crowd uses. Have plenty of gas and oil; there won't be any stops after

ng. I can get a

hese of a fellow that had a smash-they'll do for the trip. Put them on, will you? She's wise to the car number, of course. Put the plates you take off under the seat cushion; don't leave 'em. Be just as careful as if it was a life-and-death matter, will you? I'

e key and another ten dollars

't say a

like an ope

for the trip." He hurried down to the depot platform, fo

number plates into the inside pocket of his overcoat, pushed his hands deep into his pockets, and walked up to the cheap hotel which had been his bleak substitute for a home during his trouble. He packed ever

fore he ventured farther. The blinds were drawn down-at least upon the side next the drive. On the other he thought he caught a gleam of light at the rear; rather, the beam that came from a gleam of light in Foster's dining room or kitchen shining on the next house. But he was not certain of it, and the absolute quiet reassured him so that he went up the drive, keepi

of grayness betrayed a window. Bud felt his way to the side of the car, groped to the robe rail, found a heavy, fringed robe, and curtained the wind

d around the garage to the front and satisfied himself that the light inside did not show. Then he went around the back of the house and found that he had not been mistaken about the light. The house was certainl

mouth water to look at her standing there. He got in and slid behind the wheel and fingered the gear lever, and tested the clutch and the foot brake-not because he doubted them, but because he had a hankering to feel their smoothness of operation. Bud loved a good car just a

put them under the rear seat cushion, inspected the gas tank and the oil gauge and the fanbelt and the radiator, turned back the trip-mileage to zero-pro

o. He could pile on to the empty trunk rack behind, and manage somehow to get off with the car when she stopped. Still, there was not much chance of her going out in the fog-and now that he listened, he heard the

ing to take any chances, he put another set, that he found hanging up, on the front wheels. After that he turned out

lid noiselessly out of the car and under it, head to the rear where he could crawl out quickly. The voice sou

d switched on the light. "Careless hound-told him to be careful-never even put the robe on the rail where

ng to himself all the while. "Have to come out in the rain-daren't trust him an inch-just like him to go off and leave the door unlocked-" With a last grunt or two th

rie's mother, at that. Huh. Never saw my suit case, never noticed the different numbers, never got next to

cided he had better go. He would have to fill the gas tank, and get more oil, and he wanted to test the air in his tires. No st

ould much rather run the gauntlet of that driveway then wait in the dark any longer. He remembered the slope d

elt the front wheels, judged that they were set straight, felt around the interior until his fingers touched a block of wood and stepped off the approximate length of the car in f

more than by sight guided her through the doorway without a scratch. She rolled forward like a black shadow until a wheel jarred against the block, whereupon he set the emergency brake and got off, breathing free once more. He picked up the block and carried it back, quietly closed the bi

eet inclined toward the bay. He rolled past the house without a betraying sound, dipped over the curb to the asphalt, swung the car townward, and coasted nearly half a block with the ignition switch on befo